


Life goes on, even though you and I suffer

by Indochine



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Coping, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 21:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3744442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indochine/pseuds/Indochine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two weeks after the death of Mikoto, Izumo reflects on how he copes with everything. Even if Homra is getting over this little by little, there is a little girl who can't manage to feel better. Now Izumo is worried he could lose her too, after Totsuka and Mikoto. </p><p>Set right after the end of the first season.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Izumo; two weeks after

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer : All the characters you can recognize belong to their respective owners (not me)

It has been two weeks after that tragedy which began with Totsuka's murder.

The good news is that they avenged their comrade's death, but the bad news is that they also lost their leader, their King, in the process.

And the worst is probably that Kusanagi Izumo knew it would happen. The right hand man, the best friend knew that his King wouldn't come back from this adventure. Mikoto told him that if he managed to kill the seventh King, his sword of Damocles would be in the most dangerous state, because only a King can kill a King, meaning that a lot of powers were necessary to take that murderer's life.

But Mikoto died by the hand of the Blue King, Munakata Reisi. The blue King only wanted to avoid a new incident like the Kagutsu Crater and save all their life, and frankly Izumo couldn't blame him.

During those two weeks, he watched over all the old red Clan members, dealing with the loss of power and the ones who wanted to avenge Mikoto's death by attacking the blue Clan. Since they didn't have powers anymore, they were to be beaten harshly, with no chance of winning. He fought with his old subordinates a lot, trying to control them, to avoid maybe another death.

Now after two weeks, things have started to calm down.

The old members still come everyday but they have new preoccupations like finding jobs to pay their rents or stay out of trouble. Homra was with men who did nothing but fight, so now that they are powerless, they have to escape from old enemies are now stronger than them sometimes.

As for Izumo, he didn't reopen the bar once during those two weeks, and he isn't sure he will soon. He had his own depressed moments after Mikoto's death, when no one was there to see it. He still has sometimes but he knows he can't give up, not now. His guys, Mikoto's guys, may be old enough to take care of themselves but the smallest member of Homra, the only girl, is still a kid. She turned eleven the day after Totsuka's murder and now she has lost the man she believed in the most, the man who gave her a chance to live a happier life, with people who could understand her.

Izumo considered selling the bar more than once in those two weeks, with the illusion that the sadness and the pain would disappear with it but now he knows he can't. Too many memories, too many moments of happiness happened during those eight years, and just like Totsuka's stuff, he can't separate himself from his precious bar.

Before, Mikoto, Anna and him used to live here, upstairs, each with a room. Now, it's only him and Anna.

And Anna doesn't sleep in her room anymore, in fact she doesn't leave Mikoto's room anymore. Izumo notices that since that day she doesn't smile anymore, she eats almost nothing. Since that day, her eyes lost the will to live and now Izumo is scared he'll lose her too, after Totsuka and Mikoto. She stays in Mikoto's room, clutching her red marbles in her tiny hand, watching something outside from the window while sitting on Mikoto's bed, as if she was waiting for him to come home, except that she knows he's dead.

He feels he's going to lose her too, and he hates himself for not being able to do anything about it.

Her aunt came one day. The aunt who let her live with Homra because she thought she would be happier because she is a strain. She came once because she heard the Red King died. When she saw in which state her niece was, she asked Izumo if she could take her away, and Izumo refused. Her aunt pressed and asked again, saying that Anna was a child but that she saw too many deaths: Her parents', Totsuka's and now Mikoto's, the person she loved the most. Izumo hesitated for a brief second but refused again because she's the only one he has left, and he wouldn't be able to cope with her loss.  
Her aunt said nothing after that and left without saying goodbye. Izumo is expecting problems to come because of her but nothing happened yet.

The sound of the entry door opening makes him aware that someone entered while he was lost in thought, and he's surprised to see Awashima Seri, lieutenant of Scepter 4.

"I know it's not opened, but do you mind?" She asks with a slightly hesitating voice. He remembers when she came once during the time Mikoto was in jail because she said exactly the same thing. He remembers what his answer was at this time but doesn't say it. Too many things happened since then.

Still, he's a lady man, so he gives her a soft and tired smile and shows a vacant sit. She nods and goes to sit down.

Nothing is said at first. Seri doesn't ask for a drink and Izumo doesn't ask her what she's doing here either, because he knows she's not here for a drink. However after two minutes of silence, she asks for a martini just like the last time she came. He makes it, adding the five scoops of red bean paste, even though she didn't ask for it.

She drinks it silently and right after she's done with it, she talks.

"I didn't know if you would like to see me after… all that happened."

Izumo takes her glass and washes it, he doesn't want to answer but he feels like he's obligated to, because she didn't come all this way just for a drink.

"Is that why you waited two weeks, Seri-chan?"

She nods slowly, hands joined on the counter. She has something unusual in her eyes on this night, it's not pity, it's more like guilt mixed with sympathy. Maybe she realizes that if her King died too, she would be happy to have someone understanding the feeling or so he thinks. This isn't like her at all, though. He has nicknamed her the Heartless woman for a reason after all.

"I thought you would be mad at Scepter 4, and that would be understandable."

Izumo gives a slight chuckle. "My guys were but I dissuaded them to come to you, you would have won and I had enough with those two deaths already."

"So you, Kusanagi Izumo, aren't angry with the blue clan, and more precisely with the blue King?"

"No." he says, "How could I? Mikoto's sword was on the edge of falling and he would have killed a lot of people and that wouldn't…" he stopped for a moment, "it wasn't fair."

Whether the bartender talks about a lot of people dying with the fall of the Sword or his King's death, he himself doesn't know. Seri doesn't try to make him explain, she knows it's still hard for him.

They stay silent again for a brief moment before Izumo sighs loudly and goes to fetch a bottle of vodka. He takes two shot glasses from under the counter, one for him and one for his guest, and opens the bottle. He doesn't even ask her if she's with him on this before he pours them each one shot of vodka. He drinks it all immediately and pours himself another one right after. He stops his actions for a moment when he realizes that Seri is watching him silently.

"You don't drink Seri-chan?"

When she answers, her tone is very soft. "Of course I am." And she does, swallowing all the alcohol in the glass. Izumo pours her another one when she lays her glass on the counter.

"So, " the bartender asks after the third glass, the fourth for his customer, "what are you really here for, Seri-chan ? Don't tell me you were seriously worried for Homra? That's not like you, Heartless Woman." He doesn't mean it as an insult but his tone is harsh, however Seri doesn't react.

"The truth is that the Captain, the Blue king, wants to have a talk with you, he wants to explain why he did that, because he thinks you, of all the people, the right hand man of the late red King, deserves it. When I heard that, I didn't want you to take it the wrong way, and even if I knew you wouldn't hurt him, I wanted you to listen to him, because maybe it will ease your pain, and you'll be able to move on."

"So you came to make sure I was ready for his big speech about how he killed Mikoto?"

"No. I came to make sure you were ready to hear why he had to. That's different."

Izumo nods while looking intently at his glass but doesn't answer. He doesn't mind nor held a grudge against the blue King, but he isn't sure he'll be able to listen to his reasons. He understood way before Munakata even stabbed Mikoto in the heart with his sword. He understood the day Mikoto told him he would go in prison for a while because he wasn't sure he could contain his anger.

"Sorry Seri-chan," he says with a slight chuckle, "not sure I truly want to hear what I already know, two weeks only after the death of my friend. Even for me that's too much."

"What about your guys? Maybe it could help them."

Izumo looks at her directly in the eyes after her last sentence. The alcohol is starting to cloud his head a little, and he reacts more loudly than he actually wanted.

"Help them, Seri-chan? Help them?!" his laughter sounds disheartened, and in his eyes, anger took over the calmness. "What do YOU even know?"

Seri backs up a little, raising her hands, trying to calm him. "Izumo—"

He seems to realize that he kind of yelled so he takes a deep breath and exhales slowly before closing his eyes a moment.

"My King doesn't want to make you feel bad, I promise. He's worried about you but also about the little girl, Anna."

At the mention of Anna's name, the pain takes over the anger in the bartender's eyes. Seri sees it and understands that something is wrong. Slowly she extends one of her hands and reaches for his arm.

"What's going on?" she asks with a very soft tone, concern in her voice.

Izumo sighs and places one of his hands over the one on his arm. Neither of them realize they have never done that before but none of them care at this moment.

"I'm afraid she's letting herself die. She doesn't eat, doesn't smile, she doesn't leave Mikoto's room. All this… From Totsuka's murder until Mikoto's death… All this was hard for her. She's just eleven… She wasn't supposed to see two people she loved dying like that."

Seri presses his arm. "I'm sorry," she says, "You don't need nor deserve another loss." She stopped for a moment before adding, "If you want… Maybe Scepter 4 could take care of her for a moment. She's a strain with great powers whereas you are now powerless because of what happened two weeks ago. Maybe she could feel better with some distance."

At her words, he retracted his arm from her grip and Seri knows he didn't like her words at all. "What are you trying to do, Awashima Seri?" The use of her full name shows his anger. "Taking Anna away from the last person she loves when the other two are dead, with one by the hand of your own King?"

Seri considers what he has just said and then she apologizes with a very low voice.

"It's okay." He says, "I suppose you're just tryin' to help." He rubs his face with his hand, trying to relax a little. "You know… She's nothing like a normal little girl… She has a lot of power. And now…. Oh Seri-chan, what am I going to do if Anna were to leave or to die?! It would be too much… And I would be the one losing it after that…"

Awashima Seri doesn't answer, watching the tired face of the bartender, two weeks ago the right hand man of the powerful Red King. All that is burned now, all because of the Colorless King.

She reaches for his arm once again, and he lets her. They stay in silence again for a long moment, looking at each other. It's probably the first time that they are so close and yet so far away from each other. Izumo remembers all the time she came in the past for those horrible drinks she likes so much. Since they were of two opposed Clan, they never tried to get after the friendly acquaintance part but now nothing is restraining them anymore. However, even tough they were equal in power before, there is a gap now, one that may never be filled.

Seri seems to think the same thing so she gets away and stands up, stumbling a little from the alcohol, grabbing her coat and her purse. He waves a hand at her, meaning to say that this is on him for tonight and she thanks him with a smile.

Just before opening the door, she turns around and says, "Anna is a strain, and I am of Scepter 4, I'll help you out… sometimes. If you want."

Izumo smiles, knowing that it's the best she can offer, and even though he wants to refuse since Anna is his responsibility and because he promised Mikoto he will do everything to protect her, he doesn't.

He already lost two friends and a great leader, he may be about to lose a precious little girl, he doesn't want to lose another person, even if it is the Heartless woman.

 _Anna_ , he thinks, looking up to the top of the stairs where there is a door with a corridor leading to three bedrooms and a bathroom. He knows she's upstairs on Mikoto's bed, probably not sleeping even if it's late. _Anna, please don't leave me behind just like the other two…_

* * *

 

Upstairs a little girl is awake, her hands clutching four red marbles. As she watches outside, a single tear rolled from her eye along her cheek to her upper lip.

_Mikoto…_


	2. Anna; his last words were for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer : All the characters you can recognize belong to their respective owners (not me)

_"Anna…! Anna!"_

She turns around when she hears the voice. A true smile comes to illuminate her face when she sees her father waving at her, her mother not far behind. She doesn't remember when or why she sat on the grass but she stands up and waves back at them. A second later, Daddy stops waving and is suddenly lying down on the grass, and all around him is red while Mommy is nowhere to be seen.

Anna lets her hand falls back down to her side because she remembers that her parents are dead. And even though red is the only thing she can see, she turns around not wanting to look at her dead parents.

_"Annaaa~~ !"_

This time it's a different voice, but it's a voice she loves, especially when it sings. She turns around, not facing her parents anymore but Tatara, sitting on the couch in the Homra bar, guitar in hands with his ever gentle and playful smile on his lips. However, this time Anna knows it's a dream, Tatara is dead, just like her parents.

_"You're not really here, aren't you?"_

Totsuka seems confused at her words. He tilts his head slightly, blinking twice asking her silently for an explanation.

 _"You're dead Tatara,"_ she says. " _You don't remember_?"

This time, Tatara seems to understand. " _Ooh! That's right! I was killed_." Anna nods at his words. " _so I'm not with you anymore, is that it? That's probably why I miss you_."

A great weariness crashes down on her when she hears that. She closes her eyes for a moment, holding back the tears threatening to fall, but when she opens them again, Tatara is gone.

So she's alone again, this time in the Homra Bar. This is at this instant that she notices she doesn't have her red marbles, her anchor to reality. Wondering where she could have put them, she doesn't hear heavy footstep approaching her. However when he stops behind her, she feels his power and his warmth.

 _"Mikoto…"_ she calls softly, but he doesn't move. He's the King, and he'll be her King forever in her heart and soul, so it's her who's supposed to turn around to face him and she does.

… There he is, all in red, so pretty, so warm…

Why people called him violent, she never understood, she thinks as she details him, trying to burn him in her eyes. She was never afraid, never once, of his powers and that's probably why she was much more than a simple clansman for him. With Tatara and Izumo, she was the closest to him. Her own powerful abilities never hurt him or scared him as well, and that's why he was so important for her and will always be, even in his death.  
Their respective powers brought them close since the beginning, since the connection through her red marbles when she was seven.

 _"I miss you everyday"_ , she says, not even ashamed to tell him that, making it sound like her heart will never belong to anyone else, even though she's eleven and he's dead.

And that's always where the dream stops, and she's never able to hear his answer to her words.

When waking up, she extends her hand and reaches for something on the other side of the bed but she remembers that Mikoto is not here anymore when she feels nothing but the bed sheets.

It's still dark outside, so it must be really early in the morning but the time doesn't matter. All she can feel since the incident with the last Colorless King is loneliness. Her world is monochrome again, only her marbles still show her a fade of the color she loved the most, that she used to see everywhere. But not anymore.

Since Mikoto's death, the red vanished almost completely from her world, the boys of Homra don't have powers anymore and she fears everyday that old enemies from the now old Red Clan will go out for revenge and she doesn't want another death.

Anna watches outside through the window in what was once Mikoto's room, but she doesn't see anyone, it's still too early. She's sure, though, that somewhere in Shizume City, there are one or several people looking for her because she's a powerful strain, and it's another reason to fear for Homra' s safety and to cry about Mikoto's death. If she was once safe from curious, mad or delusional people after her powers, she isn't anymore. The future is getting grimmer and grimmer in her black and white world. She knows there will be a time where everything will become the darkest black ever and this will be her end.

She can't stay here. This is a thought she had over and over again recently, and she came to the conclusion that maybe leaving is for the best. For Homra and for her. That way, the boys won't suffer because of her and she won't have to face another probable death.

She knows Izumo is still sleeping, he's himself quite sad and has to watch over everyone. She can't impose herself onto him and ask for safety. She can't expect him to put his life in danger for her and she doesn't want to. Two days ago, she took the decision to leave and she has a bag prepared that she hid under Mikoto's bed so that Izumo couldn't see it.

Getting up, she bends down and reaches for the bag under the bed. Then she walks silently towards the door and opens it without a sound. Getting out of the bar is easy, but she's more afraid of where she will go. Because leaving doesn't mean knowing where to go. Anna hopes her powers and marbles will help her trusting the good people, or maybe she'll just retire somewhere, waiting for death or abduction.

 _"Grim thoughts don't suit such a beauty like you, Anna"_ , Totsuka had once said, but at this moment the sentence doesn't have any sense. She used to live near death before meeting Homra. Death was always a thought in her mind, a way to escape from Mizuchi's center, to forget that her parents were killed because of her. And then she met the boys of Homra, and her life stopped being monochrome. But now, everything is over, and that's because she loves Izumo, Rikio and the others, that she's leaving.

Outside it's cold, because it's early and in January. There is still nobody around, and the silence is what is reigning. As she walks, she passes several stores where sometimes she would go shopping with Tatara and Rikio, but Tatara is now no more and Rikio… He still comes at the bar but Mikoto's death has changed everything.

"Oh? Aren't you Kushina Anna?"

The young girl raises her eyes from the ground to meet with Awashima Seri and Munakata Reisi of Scepter4, the Blue Clan, the one she would be Queen of, if Mikoto and the others hadn't saved her. Upon meeting with Munakata's eyes, the death of Mikoto comes to her mind and she can see the scene unfolding in front of her eyes again.  
She's blessed with the power to see everything, to see through everything, but it's more a curse than a power.

And Mikoto's dying again, she can see it in front of her eyes. She can see the sword piercing through his body, the red blood spilling from the wound and the lifeless body slowly collapsing against Munakata.

_I'm sorry Anna… I won't be able to show you that beautiful red anymore._

Tears come to her eyes, and she can't help but lay an accusatory and grieving glare on Munakata.

She's expecting words from him, but the blue woman is the one talking.

"What are you doing outside? And why so early in the morning?" Upon seeing the bag on her back, she raises suspicious eyebrows and she goes on again with her questions. "Where are you going? Where is Kusanagi?"

Anna was never talkative but she doesn't want to speak even a word to the two persons in front of her. Munakata's face is hard to look at and the blue woman is definitely too accusatory for her taste. What do they even know after all? The man in front of her took away her most loved person right after Tatara's death, she feels lost, sad and alone, and all they can do is ask questions.

Anna decides that she must leave now, because they are two against her and she cannot take the upper hand by only waiting. So she walks away but a strong hand stops her by gripping gently her thin arm. She can feel it's Munakata's hand, who's probably believing she's making a mistake by leaving but she doesn't want to be stopped.  
So she calls her powers. She can see and feel everything and she decides that he should feel her burning sorrow. Munakata lets her go quickly when he feels the burning she applied on his hand and Anna wastes no time by leaving them and going her way.

Her feet take her away to a place she doesn't even remember ever going to, but she still stops there, tiredness overwhelming her frail body. She sits on a small bench, facing a building looking a lot like Honami's house. Or maybe it is in fact Honami's house. In any case, it doesn't matter because she won't go in there.

It's mid-morning but there are not a lot of people in the streets and so nobody tries to approach her and she stays calmly on her bench.

Far away, she can perceive the Golden Tower, turf of the Golden King, where the Dresden Slates sleep. She went in there with her eyes several years ago, trying to awake the Dresden Slate which would make her the Blue Queen to save Honami's life, to avoid her aunt the same fate her parents had had.

She had touched the Dresden Slate before and slowly an idea comes to her mind as she remembers. Strains aren't welcome by the Slate because their powers are their own while Kings are linked to the Slate and given powers by it. She always felt uneasy and nauseous, trying to have something that couldn't ever belong to her, but she had been very close to link with the Dresden Slate belonging with the Blue sword of Damocles.

Mikoto did link with the Red sword of Damocles and with the same Dresden Slate, which was now free again and without a king or a queen.

Her heart and soul feel lonely without Mikoto's warm, his beautiful red and his presence. Slowly, clutching her red marbles tightly, she calls her powers from deep withing herself, trying to locate the Red Dresden Slate, to link with it, just like Mikoto once did, and so to share the same fate, to join him again one day in death.

The Red Slate is sleeping, locked in the Golden Tower. Entering is easy, and once she's there, she can feel the nausea of not being wanted, and she stops her envy of escape, because the Dresden Slate is there, and she's almost touching it.

She's on the bench in a calm street, but she's also in the Golden Tower, facing the Slate, trying to reconnect with Mikoto through the only way that's left.

She extends her will and her powers to make the Slate hers but before she can, he stops her.

_"Don't, Anna"._

His voice is powerful, all his being is, but those simple words, that sole order he told her, send shivers through her entire core.

 _"You're not here,"_ she says, trying to fight him for the first time, because she wants to own the Slate to feel his red and warmth again.

_"I am, brat. Don't do that."_

A force is stopping her from touching the Slate but it's not the Slate itself. It's powers that she knows well, it's him blocking her powers with his own because he's refusing what she wants to do.

_"It's not worth it, Anna. Don't do it."_

_"It is worth it."_

_"No."_

_"Yes it is."_ She says, her will fighting his. _"I want to be with you again, I want you and Tatara with me and Homra again."_

The Slate is getting farther away because Mikoto's will is outstanding but she can't be beaten. For the first time, she calls for all her powers, extending her will, shielding herself, almost bypassing Mikoto, almost linking with the Slate, but a warm hand catches hers, making her stop.

 _"I want you to be happy,"_ his deep voice says. _"I don't want you to die now."_

She knows she's not really there, neither is he, but when she hears those words, her heart sinks, and she knows she's crying on the bench where she left her body.

_"You're not… here with us anymore. I can't… be happy anymore, so why don't you let me join you and Tatara?"_

This time, it's another voice that answers. This one is softer, happier but very serene when it speaks. _"There are still people that love you Anna. You can't do that to them."_

She knows that voice, because it used to sing the gentlest songs she has ever heard.

_"Tatara…"_

_"You won't bypass us Anna. We won't allow it."_

_"We love you too much to let you do that. Think of Homra, you still belong there."_

The voices interweave and soon she loses her concentration and the Slate rejects her, sending her back in her body, still sitting on the bench. Slowly, she opens her watery eyes, tears threatening to fall, and she accommodates to the sunlight, telling her that it must be past noon. What seemed to have been an instant has actually been a few hours.

She doesn't try again to connect to the Slate, even just to hear their voices, because she knows she doesn't have the strength right now.

Her hand still clutches her red marbles and she looks at them for a moment, her mind blank of everything, when the tears finally fall. Her hand lets go of the marbles and the round objects fall to the ground, breaking as soon as they hit the pavement. When she notices between her cries, she tries to reform the marbles, the anchor of her mind and powers, made of her blood and always useful, but she doesn't succeed for the first time in her life.

The marbles are now nothing but drops of red blood and she can't stop crying.

Through her sorrow, through the tears falling, she feels a hand taking one of hers. The hand is slender and soft and it tightens around hers when another one takes her other hand, and this time that hand is bigger than hers and a little rough to the touch.

_"Try again, Anna."_

Listening to that gentle voice, she tries to reform the marbles again and very slowly, four of them emerge from the small pool of blood on the ground and come to rest in her small hand. Clutching them again, Anna tries to stop the tears, when she feels them being wiped away.  
For anybody else, it would be a soothing and warm wind, but when she feels it running through her hair, she knows who it is actually and she stays like that, warmth engulfing her in an invisible embrace, and she rests calmly. Slowly, it seems like she can decipher a voice in the air drifting around her, following that warm embrace.

 _At the crossroad where thousands of lives come and go every day_  
_That's where we met, you and I_  
 _With an honest gaze we looked at the future full of longing_  
 _As long as we are together on the path we walk_

 _We have play of courage to face our trials, overcome them, and be protected_  
_The vows we uttered as the evening sun shone redare being sucked up by moon of faded yellow_  
_Our bond binds us from afar and yet we feel the warmth, and I wish it would last forever_

"Tatara…" She fights the tears, because she knows she has to be strong this time, otherwise they will disappear.

_"Go home, Anna."_

"Mikoto…"

Home… The place she has left that morning without saying goodbye because she wanted to flee to protect herself from sorrow and pain.

Izumo… The only one left that she loves deeply, probably as lost as her, dealing with his own pain, and now he has her loss to deal with.

She stands on her feet, freeing herself from the invisible embrace, shivering when the warmth leaves her.

"I have to go home."

Yes, home. Where she has boys and comrades who love her.

She cannot die, not now.

She has to live, for them, because another death will be too much to handle for Homra, especially for Izumo.

She cannot do that to them, so she pushes her death to a later time, a time she doesn't want to know about now, and she leaves the bench and the Dresden Slates behind.

The trip to go back home is silent and she feels alone. She cannot feel Mikoto and Tatara anymore and she's sad to think that she'll never hear their voices again except in her dreams.

Her eyes can see everything and that includes the dead but she can accept their wishes to be sometimes invisible.

"Anna!"

She doesn't realize that she has walked up to the Bar until she hears the cry of her name, anxiety, relief, pain and gladness all in Izumo's voice. Rikio is there too, as well as Misaki and Munakata and Awashima.

She sees Izumo running towards her, followed by Rikio and a crying Misaki, and before she can even realize it, she's running as well, running until she arrives in Izumo's arms, and he hugs her against his chest, a tear or two rolling on his cheek.

"Anna… I was so worried, " he says, rocking her slowly as Rikio strokes her hair and Misaki kisses her cheek, still crying.

She doesn't say a word, she doesn't cry because she's made a promise with herself on the returning way to home that she will be strong from now on.

Strong for herself. For Izumo, Rikio, Misaki, for all Homra and for Mikoto and Tatara.

She hears the Scepter4 Captain and Vice-captain approaching them.

"You scared us, young lady." Munakata's temperate voice rings in her ears. Awashima Seri says something to which Izumo answers but Anna has stopped listening.

Everything will fall into place, she knows that. And now that she has had time to think, she feels that she has just crossed the turning point of that tragedy. Now she can move on with her pain. Now she can live again.

"Izumo…" she calls in a whisper against his chest. The bartender lowers his head to hear her hushed words. "Izumo… I want to believe…" but she cannot finish her sentence, feelings overwhelming her.

A soft smile comes to the man's lips and he hugs her even tighter if possible, saying with a reassuring voice full of promise, "You will Anna," because he knows what she wanted to say before.

And gently he takes her small hand in his and opens the door to their home, Bar Homra, hope of rejoice following in their steps, preceding Rikio, Misaki and strangely the two Scepter4 members. Before the door closes, Anna looks outside one more time, still feeling the soft caress through her hair.

"Mikoto… your red is still warm," she says, and she knows that his warmness will stay in her for a time, not allowing her to ever forget him. However she will never, and as the door closes, she catches herself smiling a little for the first time in a while.

 _"Welcome home, Anna"_ she hears Tatara's gentle voice say next to her ear.

Yes, home. Where she belongs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally written in 2013.
> 
> Two more things:  
> \- "Mikoto your red is still warm," is a sentence that Anna actually says in the announcement of the sequel to K project so I really wanted to use that sentence.  
> \- About Anna seeing the dead, I think it was kinda revealed in Memory of Red (the manga) in chapter 13, so I went and used it.

**Author's Note:**

> Original written in 2012/2013


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